Thormesis Nothing but Pagan Black Metal

By: Nick

Thormesis surprised us earlier this year with their CD ‘Von Leere und Tod’. However, there were a few things which stayed unclear concerning the band. That’s the reason why we contacted Travos, singer and guitarist from Thormesis, for an interview.

Hello Thormesis! How are you?
Greetings! We’re all doing quite well, thank you! At the moment we’re waiting on the release of ‘Von Leere und Tod’ which will be released 15th of June. In the meantime, we’re busy with writing new songs and preparing for live shows.

Could you tell me a bit about yourself, for the people who’ve never heard of you?
Thormesis exists since 2006 and is, since then, a Black/Pagan metal band. The main goal of the band is to implement as much influences from different styles of music as possible, and to convey our music to interested people. Since the founding, Thormesis consists of this Line-up, Travos, Keltor, Velsir and Berucas.

Your new album is called ‘Von Leere und Tod’, does this title have a deeper meaning?
The concepts of ‘Emptiness’ (Leere) and ‘Death’ (Tod) give the album this name not without reason. Lyrically, the songs often deal with the concept of death. ‘In den Nächten der Wiederkehr” and ‘Des wolfes letzter Gang’ are the best examples of this. The theme of ‘Emptiness in life’ is central in ‘Türme des Schattens”. Also, the lyrics deal with personal events and experiences.

Is there an overall concept on the album? If so, could you explain this?
There is an overall concept, though this album isn’t a concept album. In general, the lyrics all deal with death in some way, though they differ widely. It simply deals with things that personally move us. It also deals with things we experience.

There are 7 songs (and an intro) on the album, but which song does stand out the most for you? For example in lyrical theme, or music wise?
I would say, ‘Des Wolfes letzter Gang’, as it is written for a lost friend. Also, it’s musically a rollercoaster of emotions and includes pretty much all styles of music, the members of the band listen to themselves.

Do you think ‘Von Leere und Tod’ could mean the breakthrough of Thormesis in other countries besides Germany?
We don’t really worry about that. Also, at the moment I’m writing to you, and that’s already an ´other country besides Germany´. For us, it´s important that our music can reach the people, so people could get our CD´s. In this way, AFM-Records is definitely the right ‘partner’.

3 releases, and already on two different labels, why is that?
In short: Our old label ‘Düsterwald Produktionen’ unfortunately ceased all activities. Therefore, we needed a new one.

What is more important in the music of Thormesis, the black-metal aspect, or the pagan aspect?
I think these two aspects work quite well together, at least that’s what people often said to us. Therefore we entitle our music as ‘Black Pagan Metal’. Nowadays, the Pagan influences dominate the Rock ‘n’ Roll and other musical influences.

There isn’t much information to find about the band, is this on purpose?
Not really. Lately, it didn’t came up to us to bring the homepage up to date. Nobody had ever bothered.

You’ve shared the stage with bands like Die Apokalyptischen Reiter and Fiddlers Green, bands which aren’t really playing in the same genre, was this on purpose, or did the opportunity just came up?
It just happened. Nonetheless it was fun to drink one with our colleagues.

What is the ultimate highlight in the career of Thormesis?
That would be the same as if someone would ask me what the highlight of my life is. It simply is a combination of many things. Unfortunately, I can’t remember all of our performances, since we always party with a lot of alcohol after the gigs!

And what do you still want to achieve?
Looking if we can stand out during a two-week-tour would be quite funny! No serious, a tour with the bands we appreciate and love ourselves would be great.

Is there still anything you want to say to the readers of folk-metal.nl?
It’s hard to say, though I hope that some of you would listen to our album and check us out live! Just stay who you are! ;)